Baker administration details Medicaid savings plan

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is detailing a proposal to trim $761 million in Medicaid spending, a key part of its overall plan for keeping the state budget in balance.

Administration officials said Thursday about 60 percent of the Medicaid savings would be achieved by moving some provider payments due in the next fiscal year to the following year. They said that would give the administration more time to craft long-term solutions for reining in Medicaid.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders says the state routinely rolls over Medicaid payments from one year to the next but it’s a practice she hopes to curtail in the future.

Officials say the proposed Medicaid savings do not include any major benefit reductions and the state is expanding coverage for children with autism.